~ Theology that is Approachable, Enjoyable, and Relevant

Pulpit of Porvoo Cathedral

One of the first things you notice when you enter the Porvoo Cathedral is the pulpit. It’s hard not it.

Given the size of the church, the pulpit is large and hard to avoid. Thankfully, it’s also beautiful.

And for a seminarian, it is full of symbolism, which is really neat to explore.

Take this for example…

So much symbolism. You have the dove flying over the pulpit representing the Holy Spirit inspiring the words of the preacher. You have the sun with the Hebrew phrase to he back of the preacher as if to say that God is shining God’s light and enlightenment on all who hear the words spoken.

When you walk up to the pulpit, you see more details, like this…

There is a seraphim (or at least the head of one) right at the front of the pulpit leading the way. It is a reminder of the ark of the covenant in which there was a seraphim at each end of the ark as a sign of protection and warning that the contents of the ark were holy and from God.

The detail in the carvings is magnificent, don’t you think?

This was probably my favorite – it’s the verse on the door leading out of the pulpit. I imagine that it is designed specifically for the preacher to see it when he was leaving the pulpit – a bit of a reminder that if the sermon went well, it wasn’t anything the preacher did, but it was God’s work. In case you are wondering, it’s Norwegian, as far as I could tell and it says something to this effect – The kingdom of God is not in man, but in power. That’s not a great translation, but it was the best I could get out of Google translate. If you happen to know the true translation, please feel free to leave that in the comments section – I’d be grateful.

Up next on the travel postings – one more day of the interior of the cathedral – the crucifix, paintings, and other random stuff that I thought was interesting.

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2 thoughts on “Pulpit of Porvoo Cathedral”

The sign is in Swedish (Porvoo cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Borgå, Finland’s Swedish-speaking diocese) and says:
“The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
(1st Corinthians, ch 4, verse 20)

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I believe that God, church, and theology are approachable, enjoyable, and relevant for everyone. I write about this a lot because people need to hear it. So many people feel lost, hopeless, alone, and are searching for identity and meaning.
I'm an ELCA Pastor (Lutheran) who has a background in politics, business, and the non-profit worlds. I take churchy theological ideas and words and communicate them in everyday language that people can understand, in ways that relate, and show that God, church, and theology matter a great deal. Oh, and it doesn't have to be boring either - mostly because it's the best news ever!